Tribute to Farmer Dick Thompson

Boone County farmer Richard Thompson (1931-2013) has left behind a mighty legacy of working with the soil, with crops and animals, and most of all with people who seek ways of farming that pay the bills but don’t spoil our water and ecosystems. We pay tribute to his life by airing an interview recorded earlier this year by sustainable-ag and -ranching journalist Chris Stelzer of Colorado, in which Dick’s quotable wisdom, humor, and spirituality are on full display. Host Greta Anderson also speaks with Rick Exner, who served the o rganization Thompson co-founded, Practical Farmers of Iowa, for 20 years, about the early days of PFI and his memories of this wholly authentic native son of central Iowa.